Nine

Listen (Sidekicks)
by Doug Sery

It had to happen. A Swedish hardcore band has left me cold. Spoiled by the likes of Final Exit and 59 Times the Pain, I’d come to expect something more than the usual heavy metal tripe that’s been foisted upon my reviewing ears by American hardcore labels lately. To be fair, Listen breaks up the action enough to give hope that they’ll tear their ears away from Radio Free Europe and listen to what’s going on around them. And while the earnestness never leaves their “heartfelt” voices, when they sing about taking the moment and “freezing it like an old dirty picture,” or “You compare it like a drop in the ocean, but I see a drying well,” I can’t help but wonder whether I shouldn’t have taken that high-paying Wall Street job, if for no other reason than to have the money to provide a book-of-the-month club membership to Victory Records.
(Östra Nobelgatan 9 703 61 Örebro, Sweden)